I once considered having a tarantula pet, but then decided no. When I was in the USN based in South Texas we used to see them occasionally outside the BOQ (bachelor officer quarters). They lived in burrows, but I have no clue if they were the ones digging burrows or they would take them from other underground dwellers.
I grew up living rurally In Upper Marlboro, Md, but in a sub-division of houses. Back then (circa 1968) the area was rural, 99% farm land, but now a suburb of DC. The saying
you can never go home is true in areas actively being developed watching the farms dissapear filled with miles of houses.
I had friends who lived on nearby farms. This gave me opportunities for semi-exotic pets. Influenced by an
Exotic Pet book with a girl and two bats hanging from her blouse on the cover, I briefly had a pet bat flushed out of a friends attic, but quickly realized it was not a good pet because I’d always wonder about rabies infections if it bit me, so always handled it with gloves while feeding it cricket legs.
Briefly had a pet possum, nope... Although passive, made a mess of their bedding, so turned it loose. And I had a boa constrictor for years until it got too big and my Dad sold it. I used to raise my own mice, but it got to a point where I needed and raised rats.
As an adult living in Minneapolis, I volunteered to take care of a nephew‘s Ball Python because they were in over their heads and did not want to keep it. I’d have it out in my lap or on the carpet, and it spooked the hell out of our cats, but it never tried to eat them. I kept it well fed.
Honestly, I don‘t see reptiles as being affectionate. That lasted about 6 months until I got tired of taking care of it and gave it back to them to sell. I was not going to raise mice/rats, so I used to buy frozen rats for it. You’d thaw them out soak them in warm water to get their temperature up and then drag them around the cage by their tail until the snake struck it and squeezed. Every so often, would buy a treat, a live rat for it.
Yes, when I see a lizard (daily) part of me wants to domesticate it, but I think they probably be happier, if lizards can be happy, being free spirits even if it’s a shorter brutal life for some of them, and honestly I don’t want the obligation of taking care of them.